FanControl with 3 pin fans

[Bombastinator]

I am getting the impression FanControl only works with pwm fans.  Is this correct? And if not how do you get it to detect them?

[Dukesilver27-]

I can confirm this, I have 2 cheap fans with 3 pins that is supposed to be PWM (it advertised as such), it is detected by FanControl, but any adjustment takes no effect. Now it just run at 100% all the time, thankfully it is not loud because it barely reaches 1200rpm.

I could control them with my board's fan control software, but not FanControl.

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

I can confirm this, I have 2 cheap fans with 3 pins that is supposed to be PWM (it advertised as such), it is detected by FanControl, but any adjustment takes no effect.

If it’s 3pin it’s not pwm.  Pwm is 4 pin.  It may be that my motherboard is incompatible or something.  I’m using splitters on everything.  Perhaps I need a fan controller

Edited November 9, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Dukesilver27-]

2 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

If it’s 3pin it’s not pwm.  Pwm is 4 pin.

I know, which is why I said supposed to be PWM because it was advertised as such. Not that it is a PWM fan.

I also added a bit on my first post, as below.

3 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

I can confirm this, I have 2 cheap fans with 3 pins that is supposed to be PWM (it advertised as such), it is detected by FanControl, but any adjustment takes no effect. Now it just run at 100% all the time, thankfully it is not loud because it barely reaches 1200rpm.

I could control them with my board's fan control software, but not FanControl.

 

[Bombastinator]

Just now, Dukesilver27- said:

I know, which is why I said supposed to be PWM because it was advertised as such. Not that it is a PWM fan.

China is more amenable to false advertising suits than it used to be.  I’d return it myself.

[Dukesilver27-]

Yeah well, it's fine, it was a $5 ARGB fans, I should've known better.

Anyway the point is, my asus board's fan control software could control the fans but not FanControl, they are detected but that's only about the extend of it.

[thrasher_565]

you can make 3 pin fans pwm

[mariushm]

3 pin fans are  : voltage , ground , rpm sensor 

4 pin fans are : voltage , ground, rpm sensor , pwm signal 

 

Some motherboards have controllers which will detect a fan doesn't change rpm when sending pwm signal, and switch to adjusting the output voltage going to the fan to control fan speed (ex change voltage between 5v and 12v) 

 

I suppose it's not impossible, but it's really unlikely that the circuit board in the fan hub has 3 contacts for wires but the manufacturer only used 3 wires and a 3 pin connector to save a penny. Usually they mass produce those circuit boards so they use cheapest ICs possible for those without PWM signal input.

 

You could reduce the speed of a fan by adding a single resistor in series with the voltage wire, if you want I can give you the formulas to use to determine what resistor value to use.

[thrasher_565]

if your bios software wont control it then

pot controller reduces voltage 

resister like mariushm siad

3v,5v,7v,12,off switch mod

Phobya 4Pin PWM

fan controller like aquacomputer best and most powerfully with all the options at a cost. starting speed, profiles,

different fans

 

i think there are fan hubs that can control 3pin and act like pwm... just dont remeber witch it was...

 

posable some argb controllers can do 3 pin but dont no.

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by thrasher_565

[Bombastinator]

6 hours ago, mariushm said:

3 pin fans are  : voltage , ground , rpm sensor 

4 pin fans are : voltage , ground, rpm sensor , pwm signal 

 

Some motherboards have controllers which will detect a fan doesn't change rpm when sending pwm signal, and switch to adjusting the output voltage going to the fan to control fan speed (ex change voltage between 5v and 12v) 

 

I suppose it's not impossible, but it's really unlikely that the circuit board in the fan hub has 3 contacts for wires but the manufacturer only used 3 wires and a 3 pin connector to save a penny. Usually they mass produce those circuit boards so they use cheapest ICs possible for those without PWM signal input.

 

You could reduce the speed of a fan by adding a single resistor in series with the voltage wire, if you want I can give you the formulas to use to determine what resistor value to use.

I actually bought a fan extension cable with a resistor in it long ago which will bring a fan from 100% to 80%. Apparently I’ve got to have 4pin pwm fans to use the FanControl app.  I bought some fans thinking they were 4 pin but they are only 3 pin.  The thing I need is to control the side case fans (there are 4 possible side fans in this case) using gpu temperature.  It’s the thing that makes all the heat and noise.  And it’s fans suck ass.  I actually removed the last cpu fan as it’s basically not necessary at all with that giant cooler.  The thing doesn’t hit 50c more or less ever.  The fans just aren’t needed.  Thing came with 2 and I’m using zero of them.   I didn’t intend to buy a passive cpu cooler but I’ll take it.  Half of me wants to install one for just-in-case, but I don’t seem to be able to get the thing hot enough to where it could possibly matter.  My bios controller won’t use gpu temp as a sensor though, and the cpu temp is useless for fan control because all it does is say it’s cool.

[thrasher_565]

3 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I actually bought a fan extension cable with a resistor in it long ago which will bring a fan from 100% to 80%. Apparently I’ve got to have 4pin pwm fans to use the FanControl app.  I bought some fans thinking they were 4 pin but they are only 3 pin.  The thing I need is to control the side case fans (there are 4 possible side fans in this case) using gpu temperature.  It’s the thing that makes all the heat and noise.  And it’s fans suck ass.  I actually removed the last cpu fan as it’s basically not necessary at all with that giant cooler.  The thing doesn’t hit 50c more or less ever.  The fans just aren’t needed.  Thing came with 2 and I’m using zero of them.   I didn’t intend to buy a passive cpu cooler but I’ll take it.  Half of me wants to install one for just-in-case, but I don’t seem to be able to get the thing hot enough to where it could possibly matter.  My bios controller won’t use gpu temp as a sensor though, and the cpu temp is useless for fan control because all it does is say it’s cool.

argb controllers that alow for gpu control. i mean you can also buy a gpu to fan adapter i guess and use the phoby 3pin to pwm thing to make the fans pwm as most gpus i think use pwm fans now.

[Bombastinator]

4 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

if your bios software wont control it then

pot controller reduces voltage 

resister like mariushm siad

3v,5v,7v,12,off switch mod

Phobya 4Pin PWM

fan controller like aquacomputer best and most powerfully with all the options at a cost. starting speed, profiles,

different fans

 

i think there are fan hubs that can control 3pin and act like pwm... just dont remeber witch it was...

 

posable some argb controllers can do 3 pin but dont no.

 

 

 

I’ve got a pot controller and I’m actually thinking of bagging FanControl since I can’t get it to detect the fans I actually want to use it with and throwing that on my secondary air in.  Then I only need 2 pin fans.

 

Is there any other fan controller that can control case fans and use the gpu as a sensor?  This is the thing my bios won’t do.

a hub is a possible I suppose.  What I’d really like to do is return these 3 pin fans that I thought were 4 pin, get some 4 pins and just use fan control.  But no detect no use.

[thrasher_565]

55 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I’ve got a pot controller and I’m actually thinking of bagging FanControl since I can’t get it to detect the fans I actually want to use it with and throwing that on my secondary air in.  Then I only need 2 pin fans.

 

Is there any other fan controller that can control case fans and use the gpu as a sensor?  This is the thing my bios won’t do.

a hub is a possible I suppose.  What I’d really like to do is return these 3 pin fans that I thought were 4 pin, get some 4 pins and just use fan control.  But no detect no use.

i no speed fan use too but its long out of date. other then a argb controller and there software that all i no of but there might other things on the net.

 

i dont no if aqua computer software can control the mb fans headers but worth a shot i guess.

 

you can probably program an arduino

 

you can try 5v or 7v

 

some mb software might but my experiences with that stuff is its buggy... and almost like a bloatware...

 

the fan hubs that did control 3 pin fans would need 1 pwm fan hooked up and it wold flow that fan speed % so 2 different fans will have different speeds

Edited November 9, 2022 by thrasher_565

[Bombastinator]

I got the impression fancontrol more or less IS speedfan the way pimlical more or less IS DB4 (though it’s more like db9 now). I understand speedfan basically stopped updating in 2016.

 

in which I go on for awhile about how cool pimlical is.  It’s drippy.  I miss pimlical. 

Spoiler

if you’re some old fart that loved palm pilots and you’ve got an android phone pimlical is your jam.  It’s even got the old flat file stuff so it can do stuff *nixes can’t. Flatfile sucks, but it sucks because of bug issues being much worse and harder to fix…. But software that has been maintained for 40 years has the bugs worked out of it…all of them.  It looks terrible of course because all of the art is so 80’s but it works like nothing else.  It was the thing that hurt the most about dropping android for iPhone. I tried to replace it with the very best PIM software that iPhone had.  The really expensive stuff.$20/mo subscriptions that cost as much as software that used to sell for $350. It was like driving a trabant.  (That old Soviet 2 cycle car that had wool instead fiberglass) The best apple PIM imho is actually the default apps.  All 4 of them at the same time.  Don’t forget clock. It makes the alarms suck less.  You can do a lot of what pimlical does all by itself.  Still not all of it, but aside from the alarm problems it’s workable.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Mick Naughty]

Got 13 3 pin fans in one rig on fancontrol. Works perfectly fine. Though I’m not using a fan hub obviously. 
It’s an ok program, really only using it because Asus crate armory is hot garbage. 

[Bombastinator]

A description of how I fixed it in case anyone is curious:

 

So for whatever reason I got the things to register.  Didn’t do me any good though because the software couldn’t control them.  It will do readings of how fast they are going though which is handy.  the only set that really really needed to follow the gpu was the gpu side air in.  I wanted to do air out on the other side too, but it’s not really that important. “Some” will work.  I had enough 4 pin fans (scavenged from the cooler fans I wasn’t using) to do the air in bit.  They’re smaller, but they will do.  They’ll have to run a bit faster than the air out fans to maintain overpressure.  The case is mostly grillwork, so anything on the “positive” side is fine.  With that much grillwork it just won’t matter much.  everything else I just set in bios.  I left all the rest 3 pin, so I wound up with two unused 140mm arctic cooling fans.  I’ll throw em in the classifieds I think.  
 

note: cat hair makes a great telltail for if you’ve got positive or negative case pressure though of course it doesn’t supply numbers. I suppose I could wait a month and see if there are any inside the case, but holding one up to the grillwork was faster.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Bombastinator